Closed loop vehicle frame structure for laterally spaced suspension components

ABSTRACT

A framing structure for the rear portion of an automotive, including a pair of spaced and generally vertically oriented suspension strut towers each tower fixed at lower and upper end portions to a lower cross beam and an upper cross beam respectively and with each cross beam extending the full width of the vehicle and with each beam having a closed cross-sectional configuration to providing a high degree of structural rigidity as a mounting platform for the left and right rear wheel suspensions. A yoke-like structure on the upper ends of each suspension strut tower supports an end portion of the upper cross beam, each yoke including a pair of spaced side walls between which an end portion of the beam extends so that in vehicle assembly the beam&#39;s end portions are positioned or floated in a respective yoke in sliding engagement between the spaced side walls which permits independent lateral shifting of the upper end portion of each strut tower into desired alignment with the vehicle and with one another. Subsequently, the overlying side walls of the strut towers are attached to the end portions of the cross beam by a plurality of widely spaced spot welds thus providing a high degree of rigidity and accuracy to the framing structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention concerns vehicle framework, and more particularly, to animproved rear frame structure for an automobile which incorporates apair of vertically oriented strut towers and a pair of laterallyextending cross beam assemblies for supporting rear suspensioncomponents wherein a high degree of accuracy in spacing and alignment ofthe strut tower results to very accurately position associatedsuspension assemblies including springs and shock absorbers. Thisreduces vibration and noise transmission from the suspension componentsto the vehicle structure during operation of the vehicle due to thesignificant increase in strengthening.

2. Description of Related Art

Prior to the present invention various reinforced rear frame structuresand strut mountings have been designed to operatively mount the rearsuspension components with the object of providing a comfortable rideand increased storage space within the vehicle body in the form of anenlarged luggage/cargo space.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,794, for "Support Column for AutomotiveVehicle Wheel Suspension Assembly", issued Oct. 11, 1983, discloses arear frame structure with support columns or suspension strut towersthat are connected at an upper end by a thin-walled upper rear shelfpanel and at a lower end by a substantially flat floor panel. With thisconstruction, the suspension strut towers are designed to support rearwheel suspension components but are not readily adjustable relative toany supports for establishing a high degree of accuracy in spacing orparallelism.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,214, for "Rear Body Structure for AutomotiveVehicle", issued Sep. 27, 1994, opposing suspension strut towers areconnected at their lower ends to special gusset constructions which arein turn connected to a floor cross member and are connected at theirupper ends by gussets which are in turn connected to a panel-like rearshelf tray, thereby requiring additional means to stiffen the corners ofa pass-through structure which reduces the opening size and the utilityof the pass-through feature.

In U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,025, issued Aug. 21, 1990 for "Automobile RearBody Structure" a rear deck, fenders, inner panels and rear wheel housesare joined to form a compartment for receiving external forces such asfrom road shock imparted through the rear wheel suspension struts.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,415, issued Aug. 26, 1997 for "Torque BoxAssembly for a Vehicle", a torque box for mounting a rear suspensiontrailing link is shown attached to a vehicle frame side rail and a bodyside rail for receiving external forces such as from road shock impartedthrough the rear wheel suspension.

In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/678,285, filed Jul. 11, 1996,entitled "Bracket With Floating Tap Plate for Connecting VehicleSuspension to Body" a fastener for attaching a portion of a vehiclesuspension to a vehicle body is disclosed.

While the framing arrangements disclosed in these prior patents providevarious constructions and improvements to the vehicle body structures,they incorporate additional parts, assembly operations, and expense toachieve any degree of accuracy to provide a stable suspension strutplatform for mounting suspension components, all of which contribute toimproved passenger comfort and ride quality for occupants of a vehicle.More particularly, the prior constructions do not provide modernstandards of body stiffness without added reinforcing components and thelike such as reinforcements at joints. Resultantly, the suspensionsprings and shock absorbers cannot operate with high efficiency tobetter isolate the vehicle body from road induced vibrations. Incontrast, this invention's frame structure produces a high degree offrame rigidity and a substantial reduction in the transmittal ofvibrational energy into the vehicle body from the suspension, allwithout adding parts and increasing weight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The subject invention provides an improved rear framing structure for anautomotive vehicle incorporating a pair of suspension strut towers withan upper and a lower cross beam. Each cross beam has a substantiallyclosed structure when looked at in cross-section which provides greatrigidity. The cross beams extend between the pair of laterally spacedsuspension strut towers and are rigidly attached thereto after thetowers are correctly aligned in vertical orientation and in parallelismto one another. This greatly enhances the structural rigidity of boththe strut towers and the whole rear frame portion of the vehicle.

The upper cross beam is a unitary member which extends completely acrossthe vehicle in the lateral direction between a pair of laterally spacedsuspension strut towers used for supporting suspension components forleft and right rear wheels. The upper cross beam has a closedconstruction when viewed in cross-section which imparts great rigidity.Opposite end portions of the upper cross beam are attached to the upperportions of the suspension strut towers. Specifically, the upper end ofeach strut tower defines a yoke-like configuration defined mainly by apair of spaced side walls of the associated strut tower. An end portionof the cross beam is cradled in each yoke between the spaced side walls.In assembly of the vehicle, the ends of the cross beam are nestled in orfloated in the yoke portions with sliding permitted between the spacedside walls and a respective end of the beam. This allows the upperportion of each strut tower to be moved into desired alignment with thevehicle and with respect to the other strut tower for establishingsubstantial parallelism. Subsequently, the overlying side walls of eachstrut tower are attached to an adjacent end portion of the upper crossbeam preferably by a plurality of widely spaced spot welds so that theframing structure is rigidly interconnected and the strut towers areaccurately positioned for good.

Another feature of this invention is to provide an improved "closedloop" framing structure for a vehicle that defines supports for rearsuspension components such as springs and shock absorbers and utilizesrigid upper and lower cross beams to accurately position the spaced pairof strut towers. The framing structure also has a lower cross beam whichis cooperative with the vehicle's floor pan to which it is welded and isa substantially closed structure when viewed in cross-section. At eachend of the cross beam, a side frame rail is attached to the cross beamand to the suspension strut towers. Each side rail also extends forwardfrom the strut tower to establish a solid attachment base for a forwardpivot attachment of a longitudinal location link member of the rearsuspension structure.

This invention's closed loop vehicle framing structure effectivelycounters bending moments imparted through the strut towers. The rigidityof the resultant structure permits the suspension components to moreeffectively operate in dissipating or converting energy imparted fromroad irregularities which tend to induce vibrations which otherwisewould travel into the vehicle passenger compartment. More particularly,the closed loop support system of this invention completes an internalload path extending around the closed perimeter of the framing structureso that the suspension mounting points are sufficiently stiff whereinroad induced vibrations are substantially dissipated by the suspension.Accordingly, this invention minimizes transmittal of vibration and noiseinto the interior compartments of the vehicle.

The above described framing structure for mounting suspension componentsallows the spring and associated shock absorber to function with greaterefficiency so that substantially increased levels of vibrations andnoise are desirably dissipated and do not adversely affect occupants orequipment in the associated vehicle.

This invention also readily adapts to the addition of a pass-throughfeature between the rear of the passenger compartment and theluggage/cargo space or trunk. Thus, a fold-down trunk access panel orthe like can be incorporated so that elongated objects such as skis canbe extended from the trunk into the passenger compartment andtransported within the vehicle. Prior vehicle rear framing includes arelatively continuous body structure behind the rear seat back whichprevents addition of an effective pass-through structure. The previoustrunk blocking structure is eliminated with the provision of theimproved closed loop framing structure which even more importantly alsoprovides increased structural rigidity that improves the support of theback of the rear seat of the vehicle as well as the suspensioncomponents.

More particularly, the closed loop framing structure of this inventionprovides a maximized rectangular pass-through opening through the rearseat back area that connects the passenger compartment with the trunk ofthe vehicle. The maximum width of the pass-through opening is generallylimited by the space between the suspension strut towers. Thepass-through opening is framed at the top by the upper cross beamincluding a generally U-shaped member and a shelf forming panel memberwhich are welded together to provide the rigid closed structure asviewed in cross-section. Each end of this rigid upper cross beam isattached to a yoke portion carried at the upper end portion of asuspension strut tower. The pass-through opening is further defined atits lower edge by the floor panel which is welded to a generallyU-shaped lower cross beam to form a rigid closed structure as viewed incross-section. Each end of the lower beam is attached to a strut towerand to a side rail member each of which extend fore and aft orlongitudinally of the vehicle. A forward end of each side rail providesa base for pivotal attachment of a rear suspension longitudinal locationlink.

By attachment of accurately aligned strut towers to the upper and lowercross beams, a generally ring-shaped or closed loop framing structure isprovided which is extremely rigid. This construction also allows the twosuspension strut towers to be very accurately positioned with respect toeach other and with respect to the beam members. A framing structure iscreated that is sufficiently rigid to effectively support suspensioncomponents wherein a very effective and improved operation of thesuspension springs and shock absorbers dissipates road vibrations andany transmission of vibrations and noise into the interior compartmentsof the vehicle are greatly reduced.

These and other features, objects and advantages of this invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description of anembodiment, reference hereby being made to drawings of the embodiment asfollows:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of the rear seat area of an automotivevehicle passenger compartment with parts broken away;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view similar to FIG. 1 showing a pivotal fold-downseat portion in an opened position to provide pass-through access to thevehicle trunk;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the subject rear framing structure of anautomotive vehicle with parts broken away and looking from the passengercompartment;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the rear framing structureshown in FIG. 3 with parts broken away and looking from the passengercompartment;

FIG. 5 is a pictorial bottom view of the lower cross beam of the subjectrear framing structure of FIG. 2 looking forward from the rear cargocompartment or trunk area;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along sight lines 6--6 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along sight lines 7--7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view taken along sight lines 8--8 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view taken along sight lines 9--9 of FIG. 3;and

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view taken along sight lines 10--10 of FIG.3;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Turning now in greater detail to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a portion ofthe interior of an automotive vehicle and more particularly the rearseating area 10 having a seat assembly including a seat back 12 and seatcushion 14. Above and to the rear of the vehicle is a generallyhorizontal panel 16 at the base of a rear window or back light 18. Aspreviously mentioned, the subject framing system allows for apass-through feature from the passenger compartment to the trunk. Inthis regard, a portion 20 of the seat back is mounted for pivotalmovement from a closed position shown in FIG. 1 to an opened positionshown in FIG. 2. In the opened position, the pivotal portion 20 movesout of the way to uncover an access opening 22 which extends or opensinto the trunk. The pivotal portion 20 can be selectively opened andfolded down for communication between the vehicle trunk and thepassenger compartment so that long objects such as skis, can be easilyloaded and carried in the vehicle.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 best show the closed loop type rear framing structure30 used in the subject vehicle for the purpose of providing a rigidsupport for the rear suspension components and also for supporting theseat back 12 and related structures shown in FIG. 1. As will be furtherdescribed, this construction makes possible the provision for anunobstructed pass-through opening from the rear seat area into thetrunk. But even more importantly, the subject framing structure providesa higher degree of rigidity and beam strength as compared to previousvehicle structures. This is significant because the rear framingstructure includes and strengthens a pair of laterally spaced left(driver's side) and right (passenger side) suspension strut towers 32and 34. Each of these strut towers 32, 34 are the primary support for arear suspension assembly including a spring 36 and a shock absorber 38which support a vehicle wheel 40 and directly receive road inducedvibrations and noise therefrom.

More particularly, the closed loop framing structure 30 of thisinvention incorporates the previously identified pair of laterallyspaced suspension strut towers 32 and 34 and a left and a right siderail member 42, 44 as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. Each of the struttowers 32, 34 are welded to a side rail 42 and 44 respectively. The siderails 42, 44 extend longitudinally with respect to the vehicle and havea generally U-shape in cross section as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. Toeach of the side rails 42, 44, an elongated sheet metal cap member 46,48 is secured respectively as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. Specifically, eachcap member 46, 48 covers an open top portion of the associated side rail42, 44 with edge portions of the covers welded to the upper edgeportions of the side rails to form a closed box-like structure as viewedin cross-section in FIG. 6. Cap members 46, 48 are substantially planarwith the vehicle passenger compartment floor pan 50 and with the vehicletrunk floor pan 52. Cap members 46, 48 generally follow the path of theupper edges of the associated side rail member in the vehicle'slongitudinal direction from a forward area in the passenger compartmentto a more rearward area in the trunk compartment. The forward mostportion of each rail member 42, 44 forms a support for a forward end ofa trailing arm member (not shown) of the suspension. In this regard,reference is made to the previously described U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,415 toRedman et al. The trailing arm member establishes the longitudinalpositioning of an associated wheel and its other suspension components.

An elongated suspension carrier assembly (not shown) for supporting rearsuspension components for each of the rear wheels is attached to endportions of an elongated cross member or support (not shown) which isadapted to extend along and directly below a rear cross beam member 54shown in FIG. 5. Each opposite end portions of the elongated suspensioncarrier assembly is adapted to be fastened by bolts to the side railmember 42, 44 and ends of the rear cross beam member 54. For receivingthis bolted connection, apertured mounting points 55 are identified inFIG. 5. Specifically, these mounting points 55 consist of openingsthrough the ends of the cross beam 54 and side rails 42, 44 and bracketswith floating tap plates (not shown) within the side rails as per theabove identified U.S. application Ser. No. 08/678,285. This constructionand connecting arrangement provides a very stiff and strong structurefor the side rails and the suspension carrier assembly.

As seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, a lower cross beam member 54 extends laterallyacross the vehicle between the side rails 42, 44 and the two struttowers 32, 34. This cross beam 54 has a substantially W-shapedconfiguration as seen in FIG. 7. Specifically, the cross member 54extends beneath the floor pan 50 and trunk floor 52 and is attachedthereto by welds. In FIG. 7, it can be seen that the combination ofmembers 50, 52, and 54 form a closed structure in cross section anddefine a pair of channels 54' and 54". As best seen in FIG. 4, a sideedge portion 56 of the lower cross beam 54 is secured to the side wall44' of rail member 44 by welds. At the opposite end of the cross beam54, similar side edge portion are also welded to the other side wall ofthe rail member 42. In addition, as seen in FIG. 5, the bottom endportions 58, 60 of cross member 54 are extended over the correspondingbottom surfaces 42", 44" of each rail member 42, 44 and welded thereto.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a lower end portion 34' of the strut tower 34overlies the side wall 44' of rail member 44 and is welded thereto.Further, the edge 46' of the cap member 46 covers a portion of side wall44' and is welded thereto for rigidly attaching the lower end portion ofthe strut tower 34 to the vehicle. At the rearward side surface 34" ofthe strut tower 34 (and at its forward side surface) an edge portion 52'of the trunk floor member 52 is welded to the strut tower.

In FIG. 7, a cross section of the trunk floor pan 50 and the passengercompartment floor panel 52 are illustrated. The abutting edges of thepanels 50, 52 are overlapped in a laterally extending seam joint 62 andare welded together. This overlapping joint 62 is also welded to acentralized divider web 64 of the cross beam 54. These welds are spacedlaterally along the joint which extends between the two strut towers 32,34. The floor pans 50 and 52 are also welded to the upper and outwardlyflared flange portions 66 and 68 of the lower cross beam 54,respectively. This forms a rigid enclosed structure providing a pair ofenclosed channels 54' and 54". This composite structure greatlyincreases the strength of the cross beam and also increases its loadbearing capacity while reducing the extent of any extended and flatunsupported floor.

Each of the strut towers 32, 34 are attached by welds to the respectiveside rail 42 or 44 at a position adjacent to where cross beam member 54is attached to the side rails. Also, this attachment location is closeto where the aforementioned lateral location link of the rear suspensionis attached to the suspension carrier assembly. The strut towers 32, 34extend upwardly in a substantially vertical direction from theirattachment to the side rails. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair ofwheel-house forming assemblies 70 and 72 are attached to respective leftand right side strut towers 32, 34 and to the left and right side rails42, 44. Each of the wheel-house forming assemblies 70 and 72 mayactually consist of a forwardly located piece 70', 72' and a rearwardlylocated piece 70", 72". An edge portions 74 of each of the wheel-houseassemblies 70, 72 and an edge portion 76 of floor panels 50, 52 arewelded to a respective strut tower 32, 34. Each wheel-housing assembly70, 72 and an associated strut tower 32, 34 form a shell-likeconfiguration which is open in the outboard direction of the vehicle toreceive vehicle suspension components for each wheel. The primarysuspension component is a suspension strut 80 which basically combines acoil suspension spring 36 and a shock absorber 38 as seen in FIGS. 3, 9,and 10.

Typical suspension struts 80 are of the "McPherson" type which include acompression acting, coil-type spring 36 which encircles a shock absorber38. The spring 36 is seated at its lower end by a bracket assembly 82attached to the outer tube of the shock absorber 38. The bracketassembly 82 also includes an annular shaped cushion member 82' of stiffbut relatively flexible elastomeric material. As best shown in FIGS. 9and 10, the suspension spring 36 extends upwards from lower bracket 82to an upper seat formed by a mount assembly 84. Details of the mountingarrangement will be described more particularly hereinafter. The uppermount assembly 84 is secured to an inverted, generally cup-shaped capmember 86 by a plurality of stud and nut fasteners 88 (only one shown inFIG. 10). The cap member 86 includes downwardly turned edge portions 86'formed by deep drawing a flat metal plate. The edge portion 86' hasseveral carved-out portions 86" which are formed prior to deep drawingthe cap member to prevent buckling of the edge so that a relativelysmooth edge can be obtained which overlie the walls of the associatedstrut tower (32, 34) and is welded thereto in several places.

The shock absorber portion 38 of strut 80 has a piston (not shown)reciprocally mounted within its housing 90 as is conventional for suchcomponents. The piston is attached to a rod 92 which extends out fromthe tubular shock absorber housing 90. An upper end of the rod 92 isconnected to mount assembly 84 by a threaded nut fastener 94. Morespecifically, this upper end portion of the rod is threaded and the nut94 is threadably attached thereto. A lower face portion of the nut 94bears against a washer-like member 96 which is a part of the mountassembly 84. The member 96 is spaced from another cup-shaped member orouter mount bracket 98 by cushioning and vibration dampening material100. Further, the upper end portion of spring 36 engages an annularshaped member 102 formed of stiff but flexible elastomeric material. Aback-up member 104 of relatively rigid elastomeric material is molded tothe flange portion 106 of the mounting bracket member 98. Finally, acentral opening 108 is formed through the cap member 86 to provideaccess to the nut 94 primarily for service of the strut 80.

Referring to FIG. 4, a yoke-like configuration 110 is formed at theupper portion of each strut tower 32, 34. The yoke 110 is primarilyformed between a pair of upwardly extending and spaced side wallportions 112, 114 of the strut tower itself. Referring to FIGS. 9 and10, it can be seen that the yoke 110 is also defined by a horizontallyextending upper wall 116 of the cap member 86 and a horizontallyextending and oriented formed portion 118 of the strut towers 32, 34.The yoke defining side walls 112, 114 of each strut tower 32, 34 arespaced so as to closely receive an end portion of an upper cross beammember 120. The upper cross beam member 120 has a generally U-shapedconfiguration as viewed in cross section and illustrated in FIG. 9. Notethat elastic material 122 is located between the upper surface of thecap member 86 and the lower surface of the upper cross beam 118 fordampening any vibrations that the cap member receives from thesuspension which is thereby not transmitted to the cross beam. Also,note in FIG. 10 that the fasteners 88 attaching the strut assemblymounting bracket 82 to the cap member 86 does not engage the cross beam120. An enlarged opening 124 in the bottom wall 120" prevents contactbetween the fasteners 88 and the cross beam 120 and therefore isolatesthe cross beam 120 from the strut 80.

For installation and assembly of the vehicle, the lower end portions ofthe strut towers 32, 34, the side rails 42, 44, the floor pans 50, 52,and the ends of the lower cross beam 54 are accurately positioned andwelded to form a solid lower base for the vehicle rear portion. Next,the upper cross beam 120 is positioned relative to the upper portions ofthe strut towers. Specifically, the end portions of the upper cross beam120 are placed or "floated" through respective yoke portions 110 locatedat the upper end of a respective strut tower 32, 34. Each yoke portionis primarily defined between upwardly extending and spaced side walls112, 114 of the strut tower. The upper cross beam is fixtured toposition it correctly with respect to the vehicle frame or platform.Then, the upper ends of the strut towers 32, 34 are aligned correctlyboth vertically and in parallelism relative to one another. Next, theside walls 112, 114 of the yoke 110 are spot welded to the side walls120' of the upper cross beam 120 at a plurality of locations. Further, aplurality of welds attach the lower wall portion 120" of cross beam 120to the inwardly directed portion 118 of the strut tower itself.Especially, the many spot welds between the yoke's side walls 112, 114and the walls 120' of the upper cross beam 120 are spaced apart anextend laterally across a substantial distance of the overlying walls112, 114, and 120'. This creates a particularly strong jointtherebetween to inhibit any substantial movement between the strut towerand the upper cross beam. It should be noted that this very rigid andstrong joints or connections between the members 32, 32 and the ends ofthe cross beam 120 is accomplished without any addition of gussetmembers or other auxiliary bracing members which would add weight,increase assembly complexity, introduce paths for errors in alignment,and take-up space in the interior framed by the strut towers, floor, andupper cross beam.

The above described assembly process greatly enhances quantity build ofthe vehicle as even very minor dimensional variations can be correctedbefore the final fixing of the strut towers. These seemingly minorvariations may result in significant strut tower to strut towermisalignments. With this construction the strut towers are veryaccurately aligned and matched to the ends of the upper cross beam sothat force moments associated with the upper beam are also reduced.

The open top portion of the upper cross beam 120 is closed and thereforestrengthened by welding a shelf panel member 126 thereto. Specifically,a pair of outwardly flared flanges 128 and 130 of the upper cross beam120 are welded to the edges of the shelf panel 126. As shown best inFIG. 8, the upper cross beam 120 is further strengthened by itsattachment to a forwardly and downwardly extending portion 132 of thetop shelf panel 126. Portion 132 in turn is welded to the wheel-housing70. This provides a laterally extending cell or section 134 which isclosed by a lower panel member 136 welded to the lower web of the uppercross beam 120 and to a forward portion of the top shelf panel 126. Thisclosed section 107 augments the strength of the upper cross beam 120 andprovides longitudinal support for the upper portion of the rear seatback. Referring to the seat back, the hook-shaped configuration 138 inFIG. 8 is used to support the associated seat back.

When the lower and the upper cross beams 54, 120 are rigidly attached tothe lower and the upper portions of the suspension struts towers 32, 34and floor pans 50 and 52, a generally continuous or closed type loopstructure is created for the rear framing structure. Also, the operativerelationship between the closed type loop structure and thelongitudinally extending side rails provides a very rigid platform forrear suspension components. The assembly has a substantially increasedbeam strength compared to previous framing structures. It resistsbending moments caused by input into this structure by the wheels andsuspension struts including substantial side loads resulting fromvehicle operations on rough, pothole-cratered road surfaces.

More specifically, referring to the upper mounting assembly for rearsuspension components, the strut mount assembly 84 and cap member 86 areisolated from the beam structure of the vehicle by a cushion ofelastomeric material 122. Specifically, a suitable elastomer materialmay be injected in the desired space and subsequently cured to serve asdampening agents for suspension vibrations transmitted to the strut cap.Further, the end of the shock absorber rod 92 is attached to a member 96which itself is isolated from the strut mounting member 98 by thesufficiently rigid yet resilient elastomeric material 100. Further, atubular jounce bumper 140 of rubber material is carried by the rod 92and extends downward toward the upper end portion of the shock housing90. When the shock absorber is fully compressed such as by the wheelengaging a raised portion of the road, the rubber jounce bumper 140engages the top of the shock absorber housing and is distorted so as tocushion the shock of such shock absorber action.

From the above, it will be understood this invention provides a rigidrear suspension mounting frame assembly which reaches an improvedstandard for frame stiffness, strength and quietness while alsoproviding and improving provision for a cargo pass-through from thetrunk into the back seat compartment of the passenger compartment.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, other embodiments will now become apparent to those skilledin the art. Accordingly, this invention is not to be limited to thatwhich is shown and described but by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A closed loop type rear framing structure for avehicle comprising: a pair of rear suspension strut towers beinglaterally spaced across the vehicle, each strut tower to house andsupport an associated rear wheel suspension strut member; panel meansdefining a vehicle floor; a pair of laterally spaced rear wheel-housingassemblies, each wheel-housing assembly associated with a respective oneof said strut towers; a lower cross beam member extending laterallyacross the vehicle between said pair of strut towers and with oppositeend portions thereof operatively and rigidly connected respectively witha lower portion of one of said strut towers; a one-piece upper crossbeam extending laterally with respect to the vehicle between said pairof strut towers and with opposite end portions thereof attached to anupper portion of one of said strut towers thereby providing a continuousrear framing structure of the vehicle for supporting the suspensionstrut members; and wherein each strut tower defines a yoke configurationat it s upper end and with each of said yoke configurations sized toreceive an end portion of said upper cross beam, each said end portionof said upper cross beam having spaced apart side walls, said yokeconfigurations being defined in part by opposed and spaced side walls ofsaid strut towers adapted to overlie said spaced apart side walls ofsaid upper cross beam wherein before final assembly said end portions ofsaid cross beam are capable of lateral sliding adjustment in said yokeconfigurations for desirably aligning said strut towers and wherein saidsaid yoke's side walls are attached to said strut tower's side walls forfixing the orientation of said upper cross beam and strut tower relativeto one another.
 2. A closed loop type rear framing structure for avehicle comprising: a pair of rear suspension strut towers beinglaterally spaced across the vehicle, each strut tower to house andsupport a rear wheel suspension strut member; panel means defining avehicle floor; a pair of laterally spaced rear wheel-housing assemblies,one wheel-housing assembly associated with each of said strut towers; alower cross beam member extending laterally across the vehicle betweensaid pair of strut towers and with opposite end portions thereofoperatively and rigidly connected respectively to a lower portion of oneof said strut towers; a one piece upper cross beam extending laterallywith respect to the vehicle between said pair of strut towers and withopposite end portions thereof rigidly attached to an upper portion ofone of said strut towers thereby providing a continuous rear framingstructure of the vehicle for supporting the suspension strut members;and wherein each of the end portions of said upper cross beam has spacedapart side walls and the upper portion of each strut tower has ayoke-like configuration for receiving a respective end of the uppercross beam; said yoke-like configuration being defined in part by a pairof spaced side wall portions of the strut tower wherein one side wall ofsaid cross beam and one side wall portion of said yoke and another sidewall of said cross beam and another side wall portion of said yokeinitially engage one another in a manner permitting a sliding adjustmentbetween said upper portion of said strut tower and said end portion ofsaid upper cross beam for accurately positioning said pair of struttowers prior to connecting said strut towers to said upper cross beam,wherein a desired orientation and alignment of said strut towers isfixed by subsequently rigidly attaching the upper cross beam to thestrut towers.